The Cube
by M. C
Summary: Mulder and Scully find the morphing cube—which leads to dangerous results. Takes place during #20, but David never finds the morphing cube at all. Rated PG for language.


**The Cube**

**By M. C.**

**Disclaimer:** _I own neither the Animorphs and the X-Files, they belong to K.A. Applegate, Scholastic, Chris Carter, and Twentieth Century Fox. David actually found the blue box, but hasn't mentioned to Marco or posted it for sale on the Internet. He merely just found it very strange. So he submitted it to the FBI to investigate. In this dimension, David is never made an Animorph in the first place. For entertainment only. Spoiler for #14 is in here. Have I actually mentioned that I_ hate _#14? Well, now you have. -M. C._

"Hey, Scully!" Fox Mulder beckoned to the beautiful redhead sitting at her desk, typing her latest report. 

"Okay, what is it now, _Agent _Mulder?" she dryly addressed her partner. She typed the conclusion, saved the file, then moved her chair to Mulder's desk. 

"This. It was found in a construction site by a young kid by the name of David." Mulder set a paper bag on the desk, put on a pair of latex gloves, opened it, removed some cotton cushioning, and carefully pulled out a small blue box. He sat the cube on the table. "Smart kid. He mentioned it had weird symbols and the like. We paid him about twenty-five bucks for the thing to keep quiet." 

The box looked nothing really special. It was colored sky-blue, maybe five inches wide and five inches tall on all six sides. 

"A blue _box_?" Scully asked dubiously. Slipping on a clean pair of latex gloves, she meticulously examined the blue cube. It wasn't that heavy, and Scully strongly sensed that it was a kind of machine. She would have take it apart, examine the parts and determine what it was, if she could. 

"I'll inspect the cube later, Mulder," Scully said, picking up the cube and sealing it back in the bag. Taking the bag, she locked it firmly in her desk. "What is so important about this box, anyway?" she asked. 

"Well, when we scanned it, the sensors went haywire. We analyzed the data, and we discover that this energy emanating from this cube, it's a _way_ different kind of energy. Not radiation. Not nuclear. Not any kind of energy from _Earth_, I'd say." Mulder replied, handing Scully the files and notes about the blue cube he had in his briefcase. "If you're planning to take this… thing apart, take pictures, write notes, and fax them to me." 

"Why are you giving the cube to me to inspect?" 

"Because you're the investigator." 

Scully sighed, picking up the phone. "I'll guess I'll call Skinner to tell him I'm staying here for the night." 

*** 

After operating hours, the FBI center was completely closed, leaving only Scully to inspect the blue cube. Unlocking her desk drawer, Scully tentatively took the cube out of the bag and inspected the cube once more, using a magnifying glass to inspect it. 

Poring over the seemingly totally blank surface of the cube, Scully came upon some strange symbols, of that she had never seen before. Taking her Polaroid camera, Scully carefully positioned the camera over the symbols, and took several pictures of the cube, preparing to fax Mulder the pictures and results once she had finished inspecting it. 

Putting the developing photos aside, Scully carefully shook the blue cube, trying to find out a way to open it. Thinking that her bare fingers could have a better hold on the cube than the flimsy latex would, Scully shucked off the gloves and placed her hands on the cube, her bare fingers wandering for a crack or crevice to ease the cube open. 

When she had her hands flat on top of the cube, Scully felt a shocking sensation resonating from her hands and going through her body, like a mild electrical current. Only it felt strangely pleasant and it left Scully with an uneasy, comforting sensation all over her body. 

Looking at her hand, Scully found no burn, no blemish, no marking of the skin, **nothing**. Just plain, unchanged human flesh. _That's odd, _she thought, dismissing the random thought that the cube was dangerous if anyone had touched it. 

Shaking off the sensation, she went back to inspecting the cube. She wrote some notes on Post-It notes and taped them on three sheets of paper. Using her Polaroid pictures, Scully glued them alongside her notes, took them to the fax machine, dialed in Mulder's home fax number and activated the number. 

Just then, she heard a CRRRAASSSH. 

She growled in frustration and nervousness. Somebody was trying to burglarize the FBI office. Well, if they tried to get past the likes of Dana Scully, they'll end up with ten rounds of ammunition in them before they'd leave with what they wanted for. 

Placing the blue cube in her leather jacket, she pulled a .45 handgun from her drawer and swiftly advanced through the center, towards the lobby, training her gun randomly at shadows that moved, ready to shoot anything that moved. 

As soon as she entered the main lobby, Scully felt someone, or something was behind her. She knew what to do. Keeping the posture as if ready for anything, Scully then suddenly, swiftly turned around. She caught a blurry glimpse of a leathery blur in front of her and she shot on reflex, the bullet sound echoing through the empty lobby. It hit its target. 

The blur slowed down, and Scully eventually caught a glimpse of a seven-foot tall creature with blades all over its body and a snake-like head fall to the floor dead, a .45 mm bullet lodged in its chest area. Scully hoped it was dead, or at the very least unconscious. 

CRASH! The door burst inward, and ten trained and heavily armed SWAT men and women came through the kicked-in door, shortly followed by a strange creature, of the likes of Earth she had never seen before. It resembled a blue-furred centaur with a triangular head, big green eyes, no mouth, another pair of eyes on short stalks atop its head, and with blue fur and a scorpion tail with a big crescent moon-shaped blade. 

Give me the blue cube, human, and I'll let you live. You have no idea what it is.> the blue centaur said to Scully in a evil, soundless voice inside her head. 

"Never," she snapped, instinctively tightening her grip on the trigger, wavering her aim between the blue creature and the SWAT team backing away. "This cube belongs to the FBI now and it doesn't belong to you. Leave now, and I won't shoot." 

The creature waved a seven-fingered hand at her casually. Kill her then.> 

The SWAT men wielded weird, laser-like weapons at the stunned FBI agent. Instinctively, Scully pulled the trigger, and the blue creature fell heavily, a large amount of blue-black blood streaming through a bullet wound in its leg. 

As the SWAT people turned to give their attention to the wounded blue centaur who seemed to command them, Scully used the distraction to shove past them and make her exit out of the FBI center. Her immediate safely was number priority right now, as was keeping the blue cube from the thing and its cohorts. 

Kill her! KILL HER!> The blue centaur raged, pointing a trembling finger at the retreating figure of Scully. Turning around, partially concealed by shadows, she raised the gun and shot at some of the SWAT team members, then ran in the welcoming shadows of the interior FBI center. 

When she thought that she finally lost them, she slowed down. Whipping out a small flashlight from her pocket, Scully swiftly guided herself to the nearest exit door, helped by the glowed red EXIT arrows that pointed to the door. It was difficult, with bumping into chairs or doors occasionally hampering her escape. But finally, she reached the EXIT door, pushed the door open, and ran out of the center, as fast as her legs could take her, into the nearby woods. 

She could hear faint, but frantic voices and multiple gunfire shots that sounded like a weird TSEWW sounds from the FBI center. Suddenly, Scully tripped on a big rock and fell heavily on the ground. Black swirled around her before she gave herself up to unconsciousness. 

*** 

When Scully finally came to, she found herself in a small barn, her forehead being gently sponged by a careful hand. 

She cautiously opened one eye, and saw that a black girl was sponging her head, and that a hawk, one blond girl, a brunette boy, a Hispanic boy, and a smaller, younger version of the blue creature she saw were watching her, waiting when she would wake up. 

"Unnnnnnhhh," mumbled Scully, feeling her head, fingering a big knot on her head and painfully slumping back to the hay bale she was resting on. "Ow." 

"Calm down, lady," said the Hispanic boy. That quickly brought Scully out of her semi-consciousness. 

"Who are you?" she asked sharply, raising herself up from the hay bale, cradling her swollen head. Scully barely registered that it was still dark. She had been knocked out for a couple of hours. It was early in the morning, and it would be daylight soon. 

"Our names don't matter right now," the boy with brown hair, making his way to Scully. She looked into his eyes. She was surprised to see that he was a mature fifteen-year-old teenager, with Mulder's eyes. They hid a trace of sadness but it was carefully concealed with honest, carefree expression. Either the boy had a missing sibling or something. "All we need to know is how you got in the woods." 

"It doesn't matter, but—" Scully froze, then looked at the people around the teenager's side. The blonde, the African-American girl, the Hispanic boy, the blue creature that looked like a juvenile version of the creature she had encountered a few hours ago and the hawk, had their eyes intently trained on Scully. They seemed deadly serious and she didn't want to know what the creature with the tail was capable of. "I'll talk." 

"Then maybe you'd like to answer some questions about the cube that was found in your pocket when Ax found you in the woods. He says it was the blue morphing cube that Elfangor used to give us our morphing abilities. Please explain to us how you came upon this cube." 

Slowly, Scully recounted what happened, up till yesterday when Mulder said about a kid named David finding the cube, how she inspected it, and how two creatures and ten SWAT team members ambushed her. 

The brown hair boy nodded. "We can not permit you to go back to the FBI. The Yeerks have probably infested everyone who knows about the morphing cube." 

"Well then. What does this 'morphing cube' do?" Scully shot back. 

It is a device to implement morphing ability to any individual who touches it. The touched individual, after touching the cube, has the power to acquire any animal's DNA and actually become it for the limit of two hours. If the individual doesn't change back within two hours, the individual will remained trapped in that animal form forever,> replied the blue creature. It is my people's technology.> 

"An _alien_ technology?" Scully asked, shocked. "Mulder would be impressed." 

"Have you touched the cube? With your bare hands?" pressed the brunette boy. 

"Yes." 

The boy nodded. "Then you have the morphing ability." 

*** 

"We need to get to Mulder," Scully said tightly. "He's my partner and he's the only other person that knows about the cube." 

The Animorphs had finally told her the story of the Yeerks and introduced themselves to her. The Animorphs had excitedly discussed the possibility of making new Animorphs to help them win the war, leaving her out of the discussion. 

Finally, they had finally gotten out the subject of using the morphing cube and switched back to her. 

"We need you and your partner to help us with the war against the Yeerks. You have valuable government information about alien artifacts or technology that could possibly help us win." Jake said. 

Scully gritted her teeth. If what they demonstrated to her, she had to believe it, even though she was still an hardened skeptic. Even their morphing in front of her had not softened her belief of voluntary metamorphosis and about intelligent life on other planets. Well, probably a bit. 

Sighing resignedly, she began. "We found another alien artifact. A strange artifact in Area 51 resembling an alien engine, but so far, no other alien artifacts." 

Marco choked on a laugh. "We already knew about it. It's an Andalite toilet, _not_ an alien engine." 

Scully's eyebrows quirked in great surprise. "I didn't know that." 

"You'd better." 

"It's going to be daylight soon," Scully said softly, seeing the dark sky littered with stars beginning to lighten to gray. "If we're going to rescue Mulder, we had better do it soon. Who knows what those Yeerks are capable of." 

"The Yeerks are probably monitoring Mulder's apartment," Rachel prompted. "They have incredibly advanced technology. They tapped his phone and the like. They probably have already taken him." 

"No," Marco said decisively. "If the Yeerks are going to take the people who know about the blue box, they'd want to take them all together and in secret. They're probably going to take him as soon as he comes back to the FBI in a few hours." 

"Well, how are we going to get to him?" Scully threw up her hands in frustration. "They tapped his phone, monitoring his apartment, everything. How are we going to get past them?" 

Cassie smiled mysteriously. "You forget, the morphing power can allow you to turn into any animal you touch. That includes insects also." Scully groaned. 

*** 

Scully, in owl morph, flew silently through the cool night air. Beside her lagged an osprey and a northern harrier, carrying the blue box in its talons, and way behind, watching for any potential Yeerk activity, was Tobias. The others had gone back home to avoid being discovered missing in their beds. 

Morphing wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. The alien technology had prevented her from feeling the intense pain as her body changed from one form to another. Moreover, she had learned to control her morphing completely and change gradually, not grotesque as the others did and was able to incorporate her clothing with the morphing. A rare person who had learned how to control their morphing skillfully, like an art, was called an _estreen_. 

There it is,> Scully said, circling around the immense parking lot. Wow, this is incredible night-vision. Wait until Mulder sees this; he'll flip. What do we do now?> 

Wait for us to follow you. We'll demorph, then morph to cockroaches to fit through the door. Then inside, we'll morph to cat and go up the stairs to Mulder's apartment. We'll demorph and you'll tell Mulder everything. Just make it quick.> Cassie said, circling around the apartment complex. 

Right,> Scully said, noting that a large van was parked not too far from the apartment entrance. Let's go through the back door. The Yeerks are watching Mulder's apartment.> 

Scully alighted a few feet away from the back door, which was completely shrouded in darkness, more than enough for Cassie, Ax and her to demorph at. When Cassie and Ax had landed alongside Scully and when Tobias had given the go-ahead, Scully concentrated on her human form and began to change. 

Bones crunched as Scully's human head began to stretch from the hollow bird brain. Her short beak softened and grew into a human nose and lips. Her soft downy feathers melted like wax and reformed into clothing and human skin. 

Her talons split and melted into feet flanked by shoes. Her wings grew clumsy and awkward as her human arms fully emerged from the owl's graceful wings. When she was fully human, Scully waited as Cassie and Ax had demorphed, then examined the door. 

"It's more than enough to fit through," Cassie said. "Let's morph to roach and get into the apartment complex." 

Scully nodded. Purple and pink streaks were starting to show through the gray sky and Mulder was bound to wake up soon. She concentrated. 

*** 

The three roaches squeezed through the narrow opening of the back door. They demorphed in their true forms. Scully, human again, reached into her pocket and brought out a small penknife with a portable flashlight. Turning it on, she, Cassie and Ax made their way slowly through the lobby, careful to keep the light away from the door and alert the Yeerks. 

"There it is," Scully said quietly, coming to the door that led to the flight of stairs that led up to all floors. They didn't use the elevator for fear of attracting attention. Opening the door, she led the way to the flight of stairs and closed the door softly after Cassie and Ax had entered. 

"Ready?" Cassie asked. 

"I'm an FBI agent," Scully said, taking the blue box from her pocket and setting it down on the floor. "I was born ready." She concentrated on the tabby and felt the fur grow over her body. She fell to the floor as a tail stretched from her spine and her hands had reformed into paws. 

When she had saw Ax's deadly tail shrivel into a harmless cat tail and see Cassie's face contort into a feline face, Scully in tabby morph, scooped up the morphing cube in her teeth. Come on,> Scully said. What time is it?> 

We have plenty of time left in morph,> Ax said pointedly. Only about an hour and fifty-nine of your minutes remain.> 

No, I need to know when Mulder gets up,> Scully said exasperatedly. He usually wakes up around six thirty, takes a shower, gets dressed, has a quick breakfast and goes to work.> 

It is around six twenty,> Ax said. I suggest we hurry.> 

You're right,> Scully agreed. Let's go!> She quickly clambered up the stairs, using her cat's ability to scale stairs quickly. He lives on the tenth floor.> 

That's a lotta stairs,> Cassie remarked, following quickly behind Scully. 

*** 

By the time the three morphed cats had made it to the tenth floor, Scully's energy was exhausted and it was six thirty-five. Let's demorph,> Scully said, dropping the cube to the concrete floor and was changing already to make the exhaustion generated by her cat morph disappear. 

Her human ears melted from the pointed cat ears and her claws grew into hands and feet flanked by fingers and toes. She was already fully demorphed when Ax and Cassie were still in mid-morph. Waiting impatiently, she watched as they became more Andalite and human than feline. 

"Phew," Cassie said tiredly, clutching her sides. "I'm tired." 

I am exhausted too,> Ax agreed. But we need to get to this FBI agent before the Yeerks do. He holds valuable information that could either save or destroy the planet.> 

"Got that right," Scully panted, picking up the spit-covered box and pushing the unlocked door open to allow herself, Cassie and the young Andalite in. 

"Here we go," Scully panted, using her small penlight on the knife to find Mulder's apartment number, #513. She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. 

*** 

Mulder was contemplating taking a shower when someone knocked on his apartment door. Clad in only his black boxers, he walked up to the peephole in the door and looked. Sure enough, there was Scully, holding the blue cube that he had given her the night before. There was also a black girl and a strange creature there with her. 

Letting his guard down, he unlatched the door and let the strange threesome come in. 

"Hello, Scully," Mulder said sleepily, letting Scully and the girl sit on his couch. Gazing sleepily at Ax, he sleepily cocked an eye. "Is this an optical illusion or is this our new X-file?" 

"Mulder, you're in serious danger," Scully said quickly, coming over to Mulder, ignoring his sleepy, half-cocked questions. "Get a shower, get dressed, eat something and pack some things. We need to leave the area immediately." 

"What?" Mulder demanded. "Is this some sort of a practical joke you and Lone Gunmen cooked up?" 

"This is _no_ joke," Scully said, casting a worried eye at the brightening sky, which was more purple than gray. 

She sighed. "This is about extraterrestrial life we're talking here. There's some nasty ones who know about the blue cube here"—she shoved the cube in his face—"and they're going to take anyone who knows about the blue box." 

"But... what?" 

"Get your ass into gear, Fox Mulder!" Scully shouted, out of patience. "I'll explain later. We have to leave in fifteen minutes!" 

Mulder nodded and hurried into the nearby bathroom. Scully and the others heard the sound of water running as the shower was turned on. 

"Cassie, help pack some things for Mulder," Scully said distractedly, going to the kitchen. She switched on the light and Cassie could hear the distinct sound as cupboards were swung open. 

"Cassie, can you help me pack some supplies?" Scully asked. 

I will guard the door and the window, Agent Scully,> Ax offered. 

"Good. Alert us if the Yeerks decide to come in," Cassie said. She went into the kitchen and found Scully quickly packing aspirin, granola bars and other necessities into a tote bag. 

"Ms. Scully—" Cassie started, but Scully stopped her. 

"Don't call me Scully, Cassie," Scully admonished. "Call me Dana. Help Mulder pack some clothes. Be quick about it. Go!" 

Cassie hurried off, into Mulder's bedroom. Reaching into his closet, she dragged out a big suitcase. She started to get two suitcases out, but then realized that Ax's _kafit_ bird morph couldn't carry very heavy loads. 

Setting the suitcase on Mulder's unmade bed, she opened it. Snatching Mulder's framed pictures off his dresser, Cassie carefully packed them in his suitcase. Opening his dresser, she quickly shoved some underwear, T-shirts, jeans, a pair of sneakers and some khaki pants over the picture frames into his suitcase, leaving only a skintight pair of boxers, a T-shirt and some pants out for him to wear when he got out of the shower. He would need them only for escaping in a bird morph when they were ready. 

Mulder came out of the bathroom, a white towel loosely wrapped around his bare frame. He saw Cassie come out of his bedroom, lugging a heavy suitcase along with her. 

"Hey!" Mulder cried out in surprise as Cassie hurried out. "A guy's got to have his privacy!" He went into the bedroom. "Where are all my clothes?" 

"The clothes are on your bed," Cassie panted, placing the suitcase next to an open living room window, which overlooked the front parking lot. "No time to explain. Just get dressed." 

Cassie!> Ax cried out, both of his eyes trained on the van. It seems as though the Yeerks have intercepted our plan. They are starting come to the apartment complex. We must leave now!> 

"In a minute, Ax; call Tobias up to the window now," Cassie said quickly. "Dana, you got the necessary stuff, right?" 

"Right," Scully panted, lugging a tote bag filled with stuff into the living room. 

"What's going on?" Mulder asked, coming into the living room, fully dressed in the attire Cassie set out for him, finishing off a Nutri-Grain bar Scully gave him. "What is this? What's going on?" 

"Mulder," Scully said, taking the blue box out of the pocket and presenting it to her FBI partner, "this is got to be chaotic and unbelievable for you. There _are_ aliens out there, and some of them are not very friendly at all. For us to escape them, you must touch this box." 

"What?" 

"Just do _it_!" 

Mulder obliged, placing his hand on the box. "Ooh, it tickles. Did this shock me? What does it do?" 

You have the power to change into any animal you touch now, Mr. Mulder,> Ax said gently, but hurriedly. You have only to touch them to acquire their DNA and focus on them to become that animal for periods of two hours at a time. We need you to help us save Earth and this power can help you—> 

Tobias flapped up to the open window. Did I miss anything?> 

"No," Scully snapped. "Mulder, place your hand on the hawk and focus on how he looks like." 

Mulder did, placing his hand on Tobias's back, closing his eyes as he concentrated. He opened his eyes and removed his hand from the Animorph's back. "Was that it?" 

"Yes," Scully said. "You have that hawk's DNA inside you. You can become him now for an unlimited amount of times." 

I hear them!> Tobias said, listening intently. Indeed, the group grew silent as they heard various footsteps, including a pair of hooves, slowly clamber up the stairs. Human-Controllers and Visser Three! We have to leave! Morph!> 

Cassie turned, panicked, to Scully. "We have to leave! Hurry!" As she said this, gray feathers were already growing on her arms, much to Mulder's shock. 

Ax was also beginning to change. Six pairs of wings began to grow from his side. A bird's beak extruded from his mouth as the young Andalite quickly became an Andalite _kafit_ bird. 

"Mulder, we have to leave," Scully said hurriedly. "We need to escape, but not in the usual way. It's the power that we gave you. Focus on the hawk inside you." 

Mulder shut his eyes. His skin turned a soft reddish-white, the color of the wings of the red-tailed hawk. He opened his eyes and raked his fingers over the feather pattern. "Am I changing? This is amazing—" 

"Shut up. Keep focusing," Scully snapped. "The only way out is to fully become the hawk. The hawk will enable you to escape from the aliens." 

Mulder shut his eyes and his eyebrows wrinkled as he concentrated. The morph began to take full effect. The feather pattern grew three-dimensional, popping out of Mulder's skin. He winced but kept his focus. 

Scully began to hear footsteps coming up the hall. 

The Yeerks were coming. Time to leave. 

Scully focused, quickly becoming a snowy owl. Mulder was more slow. 

Hurry up, Mulder!> Scully admonished, flapping up to the window, where Ax, fully _kafit _bird, flapped slowly, weighed down with the suitcase and tote bag straps, while Cassie, fully osprey, and Tobias were flapping away. They're coming. Hurry!> 

Mulder transformation became more swifter. His nose and lips jutted out into a sharp and cruel bird beak, while his legs scaled and split into the yellow talons. 

Get this flimsy door open!> Visser Three's thought-speak voice boomed out as Mulder fully became a red-tailed hawk. They could hear a dull _thump_ as the various human-Controllers rammed the locked door. 

Follow me!> Scully, fully owl and Mulder, fully hawk, flapped to the windowsill and swiftly took flight in the cool, damp air outside the apartment complex as the door burst off its hinges and landed on the floor. 

"It's the Andalite bandits! Fire!" Various Dracon beam weapons began to fire randomly at the retreating FBI-agents-turned-birds. But since it was still dark and Controllers were firing from the tenth floor, the morphed birds had an advantage against the Controller sharpshooters. 

They gained some lift and followed after Ax, Cassie and Tobias, leaving a seriously ticked off Visser Three and furious human-Controllers behind. 

*** 

A few weeks later, Mulder and Scully, had been "moved" to the Hork-Bajir valley, where they would be the most safe, among the free colony of Hork-Bajir. Mulder and Scully had refused to join the team of Animorphs, but had agreed to share FBI secrets to help the Animorphs. 

The agents keep in secret contact with the Lone Gunmen and Scully still types her weekly X-FILE report just to keep in check with her daily routine. They don't use their morphing power much and like to keep to themselves. 

There _is_ life out there and the truth remains undiscovered... till now. 

**_________________________________________________________________________________________******

**Author's Note: **This was written on some hidden muse. I found it while I was searching my disks and I decided on a whim to finish it. I know the ending seemed... well, mysterious. So I decided to end it that way, just like the final episode of THE X-FILES did—with an open ending. If the ending did suck... well, I just didn't have any place to put Scully and Mulder in the ANIMORPHS series. If you liked it, then e-mail me to compliment me, or in a review. Sorry for the main delay. --M. C. 


End file.
